First Mahamastakabhisheka of Bhagawan Parshwanath from Jan 15

Hubli, Jan 13 (UNI) Preparations for the first 'Mahamastakabhisheka' of the country's tallest monolith statue of Bhagawan Parshwanath at Navagraha Teertha, about 15 km from here on the Pune-Bangalore national highway, from January 15 to 25 are nearing completion.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani would hoist the flag on the morning of January 15 to mark the beginning of the Mahamastakabhiseka. The Pancha Kalyanotsav of the 61-ft monolith statue of Bhagawan Parshwanath and eight other Jain Tirthankaras would be done on the occasion.

The white granite statue had been mounted on a 44-ft platform, depicting the Sun, taking the total height to 105 ft from the ground level. The statues of eight other Tirthankaras have been set up on platforms, depicting planets Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Venus.

According to Gunadhar Nandi Maharaj, who set up the pilgrimage spot couple of years ago, he proposed to bring the Navagraha Teertha on the tourism map, preaching peace and non-violence. It was also proposed to provide education to students from primary to Gurukul and college level in the coming days.

For the first Mahamastakabhisheka, a Yatri Nivas, consisting of 28 rooms, a 10,000 sqft Dharma Shala, a 2000 sqft Bhojanshala and a 2000 sqft Tyagi Nilaya, have been constructed. Ganadhipati Ganadharacharya Kunthusagar Maharaj had arrived for the event, he said.

Gunadhar Nandi Maharaj said he expected around one lakh people to grace the occasion and special bus arrangements have been made for those coming from Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Haveri, Gadag, Dharwad and Uttar Kannada district. A big pandal to accommodate nearly a lakh people had been put up.

Several political leaders, including Governors of Bihar and Karnataka, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, his deputy B S Yediyurappa, leaders of the Opposition, Ministers, noted litterateurs, musicians and Jain experts would take part in it.

UNI